An AI-driven interactive installation combining physical fabrication, embedded electronics, and a custom conversational AI system, built end-to-end before conversational AI entered the mainstream.
AILA was conceived as an exploration of how a physical object could act as an interface for artificial intelligence, at a point when conversational AI was not yet a consumer product. The brief was self-directed: build something that could hold a real conversation, respond to physical interaction, and feel genuinely present rather than like a screen with a chatbot behind it.
The central question was whether technology could be embedded into a fabricated object so completely that the object itself became the interface, not a container for a screen, but a thing with its own presence.
A face was digitally sculpted and CNC-machined from high-density poly, which was then converted into a silicone mould and cast to produce the central physical object. LED matrix panels were integrated as animated eyes and a sound-reactive LED strip formed the mouth, giving the object a legible, responsive face without any screen.
Applying silicone to the face mould in the studio.
Six peripheral artefacts were fabricated and hand-painted as distinct persona objects, each containing a magnetic switch and NFC chip. When placed on a sensor-equipped plinth, each triggered a specific AI character with its own conversational context and knowledge domain. The NFC read was the physical act that initiated the conversation: pick up an object, place it, begin speaking.
The six persona objects, each hand-painted and containing embedded NFC and magnetic trigger hardware.
The full system required simultaneous management of digital modelling, silicone and resin casting, LED hardware, Raspberry Pi-based computing, NFC reading, and a custom software layer tying the physical triggers to the AI responses. The cabling between components was treated as a visible design element rather than concealed, routing it deliberately across the wall surface as part of the installation's aesthetic.
The LED eye peripheral, LED matrix embedded in a hand-fabricated and painted sculptural surround.
AILA was exhibited publicly across multiple venues and demonstrated as a working interactive system throughout. The installation held conversations with visitors, responded physically to artefact placement, and operated reliably across extended exhibition periods. The work was awarded Most Innovative Use of Technology by Infinite Form.
Full system installed — face, eye, plinth, selector panel.
Earlier exhibition install — cabling treated as a visual element.
Visitors engaging with the installation at exhibition.
Holding the NFC object to trigger a persona conversation.
In conversation with AILA.
End-to-end systems integration across digital fabrication, embedded electronics hardware, and custom software — delivering a coherent interactive experience where the physical object and the technology are inseparable.
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